


Protection

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Thea's Song [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-19 22:21:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14882297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673
Summary: Prompted fic for @happiestastronaut: 26 from the one word prompts for Cat and Nathaniel, if you feel up to it? I just adore them!





	Protection

“Remind me why we decided this was a good idea?” Nathaniel asked, holding a pole steady while Cataline threaded it through the tent. “If you just wanted to get away to the mountains, we could have crashed at Thea’s place. Or another place with, you know, walls.”

His wife giggled, tossing her long ginger braid over her shoulder as she hammered the last stake into the ground. “Because it will be good for you. I happen to like camping, in small doses. Cooking over a fire, not constantly checking our phones, breathing the fresh air…”

“Sleeping on an air mattress that is probably going to spring a leak at any minute,” he retorted.

“Oh calm down, Nate,” Thea laughed. She was sitting at the campsite’s picnic table with her husband and looking far too relaxed for being as far away from the city as they were. “Those things are actually pretty damn resilient. Trust me. If they can hold up when-”

“Theadosia, if you love me, you will not finish that thought,” Loghain interjected, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Nathaniel stared at his best friend incredulously. “Seriously?”

She just shrugged, her standard maddening half smile on her lips. “I’m going to go down to the lake. Call if you need help.”

“We’ll manage, Thea,” Cat assured her. “It’s been a few years, but I think I still remember how to set up camp.”

Thea laughed, then she and Loghain started down the trail towards the water, leaving Cat and Nathaniel alone. Nathaniel had to admit there was a certain peace to being out in the woods. It was a different breed of quiet: birdsong and the quiet rustling of animals in the trees and brush. Even the sunlight felt different, filtered through the evergreens and catching dancing motes of dust in its path. Despite his reluctance, he was actually enjoying himself, and he knew that Cat knew it too.

“Here,” she smiled, interrupting his internal musings, “I’ve got the mattress inflated, but I could use some help putting on the bedding.”

“Of course,” Nathaniel nodded, helping her shake out the sheets and unrolling the sleeping bag. “I don’t mean to complain, Cat, really. I’m just not used to this sort of thing. You can probably guess how often my parents took us camping as children. I think the only time I ever went was when your parents invited me along, and those times I spent the majority of the trip trying to not make myself look like an ass in front of you.”

Cat giggled quietly, sprawling out over the newly made bed and holding her arms out to him. When he had laid down beside her and she had nestled up against his chest, she spoke again. “See, whereas I remember those trips as me mostly pining over you after having spent the preceding three weeks trying to decide which bathing suit was most likely to get me _noticed_ by you.”

“The light purple two piece with the gold metal accents,” he responded promptly.

“Andraste preserve me, you actually _remember_?”

“Of course I do.” He pulled her up so that she was laying on top of him and he could face her; could see the light sparkling in her violet eyes. “I also remember the black one with the pink polka dots and the blue one with the oversized tropical flowers. But the purple one was my favorite.”

Cat’s lips curved up in a sweet, tender smile before she leaned down to press them against his own. “We wasted far too much time not being together, didn’t we?” She sighed as they parted, but Nathaniel simply tightened his arms around her waist.

“Yes,” he answered, “But we’re together now. And we’ll be together tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that.”

“I’m glad,” she murmured, laying her head against his chest with a small sigh of contentment. “And I’m glad you’re not completely miserable out here.”

“I could never be miserable when I am with you, Wildflower,” Nathaniel pointed out. “Besides, I have you to protect me from all the scary woodland critters.”

His wife gave a small snort of skepticism. “Nathaniel Adrian Howe, the scariest critter out here is probably your best friend, so yes, I can probably manage to protect you.”

“Good,” he laughed, kissing the top of her head. They were quiet for a moment, his hand running slowly up and down her back and the soft brush of her breath feathering out against his skin. Nathaniel almost felt himself dozing off, but he could not help but ask the question.

“Cat?”

“Hmm?” She mumbled sleepily.

“Was Thea serious? About these air mattresses being able to hold up during…”

Her body shook with poorly repressed giggles. “What do you think? You could always ask her.”

“Or,” he suggested, his hand slipping beneath the hem of her shirt and brushing against the smooth skin of her back, “Maybe next time we go camping, we go by ourselves, and we could do research. For science.”

“Mmmm,” Cat hummed, her breath catching as his fingers ran along the curve of her waist. “Well, I mean… if it’s for science…”

“We would probably need to run multiple tests. Get a good sample size.”

“Right,” she agreed, lips dancing lightly over the arch of his neck and pressing delicate kisses against his jawline. “I would hate to be accused of-” Her thought was interrupted by a small pinecone bouncing off the back of her head, followed by a loving taunt.

“Told you it would hold up.”


End file.
